Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna (Gluten Free Version Included)

There is nothing quite like sitting around on a lazy afternoon, drinking bourbon and smoking cheese with a really good friend. Wait. That doesn't sound quite right. We didn't actually light up any cheese, we simply put it into the smoker and watched it like hawks whilst sipping some excellent Kentucky distilled spirits. That's better. 

My dear friend Marti, from Maryland, had attempted smoking cheese many years ago and ended up with loads of melted cheese. Keep in mind, she and Mike gave cheese smoking a whirl in the 70's...long before smokers became more sophisticated and home-smoker-friendly...they were so ahead of their time! 

Marti and I discussed plans, fine tuned them, adjusted them mid-smoking and actually accomplished our mission. Lovely, smoky, NON-melted sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheese eventually emerged from the MasterBuilt...well, with just a bit of fiddling around to maintain a low enough temp to avoid a cheesy meltdown.

Finished Product ready to be wrapped and aged for a few weeks...if we can wait that long!

Having a win under our belts with our smoky mission, we wrapped our treasures securely and waited a couple of weeks for proper aging. Okay, except for a few weak moments of "quality control testing." 

Besides adorning crackers with our home smoked cheese or arranging it among salume and pickled veggies on a charcuterie board, what else? Mozzarella and lasagna were MADE for one another, right? Right. But wouldn't a red sauce overwhelm delicate, smoky sweet mozzarella? White lasagna it would be. I really wanted the smokiness to shine, so I went with a bechamel based lasagna instead of a ricotta base to emphasize the mozzarella. So far, so good.

If smoky lasagna is good, wouldn't a double smoked pasta dish be even better? Thus the smoker was fired up once again with BIG portobello mushrooms luxuriating in the smoky interior.

Portobellos fresh from the smoker.

Then to assemble the dish and invite a few friends over to sample the result. (What a shame Marti was long ago back in Maryland and couldn't join Jenn, Michael and me.) And? Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna turned out to be...sublimely, richly, decadently so...a pasta dish to be reckoned with. And repeated for the most discerning of guests.

Here is my recipe for the lasagna. Buy smoked mozzarella if you don't want to smoke it yourself or don't have access to a smoker. The same goes for the portobellos. If you don't have access to a smoker, cook them along with the rest of the mushrooms. It will still be an excellent lasagna!

Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna

(Gluten Free Version Included)

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 4 LARGE whole smoked portobello mushrooms, sliced - (if you don't smoke them, slice and saute with the rest of the mushrooms)
• 10 oz baby bellos or other brown mushrooms, sliced
• 8 oz shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves black fermented garlic (I get mine at Trader Joe's), smashed with the flat of a knife and pressed to a paste
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 1 C chicken broth
• 1 1/2 C whole milk
• 1 1/2 C heavy cream (nobody said this was a diet dish!)
• 8 T butter (ditto the above comment)
• 1/2 C flour (gluten free flour to make this GF)
• 1 C freshly grated parmesan - the GOOD stuff!
• nutmeg, a little of a freshly grated whole nutmeg or a smidge of the jarred stuff
• 1/2 lb smoked mozzarella, shredded
• a box of lasagna noodles (gluten free to make this GF)

Heat olive oil and 1 T butter in a large skillet. Add the baby bellas and shitake mushrooms along with black garlic. Stir and let the black garlic paste incorporate into the mushrooms and liquid in the pan. Once the mushrooms are cooked down and the liquid begins to disappear (NOT dry out), add the sliced smoked portobellos and stir well. Then add the wine and let the mixture simmer until the mushrooms are still moist, but the liquid is nearly gone. All the buttery, wine-y, garlicky goodness will be absorbed by those gorgeous mushrooms! Set aside.

This is how the sauteed and wine-d mushrooms will look when they're done.

 In a medium sized, heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium, heat. Stir in flour and continue stirring until completely incorporated and smooth. Cook another minute or two, then slowly add milk - stirring constantly. Next add the cream, again stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, then add nutmeg and stir well. This is your bechamel; set aside.

Toss the shredded mozzarella and grated parm together in medium bowl. Set aside.

While you're doing all the above, cook the lasagna noodles in a big pot of well salted boiling water until al dente. When done, drain in a colander and separate the noodles. You're ready to assemble.

In a lasagna pan, ladle a little bechamel in a thin layer on the bottom. Add a layer of noodles, a third of the bechamel, half the mushrooms, a third of the cheese mixture; repeat this layer. For the last layer, just do a layer of noodles, the last of the bechamel and sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.

Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350; uncover and bake another 20 minutes until browned and bubbly. Let stand 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving. (It will hold together nicely that way instead of sliding apart.) 

Enjoy!

Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna

Time for a quickie. Of course, this is only a quick one IF you happen to have leftover barbacoa and roasted butternut squash on hand...and I did. 

Looking for something to do with next week's turkey? Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna might be just the recipe you need. Leftover fajita fixings? Or taco meat? Yup. This is for you!

Instead of lasagna noodles, I used flour tortillas. In my case, gluten free wraps performed the duties of flour tortillas to perfection. No difference whatsoever! 

Layer up tortillas, smoky salsa, sweet roasted butternut squash, earthy spinach, salty queso fresco and savory, beefy, barbocoa (or leftover protein of your choice), bake, and there's one easy, colorful, and delicious dinner on the table in a snap. 

(Don't have a barbacoa recipe? Here's mine from a little while back. You're welcome! Spicy Barbacoa With Chilies For Tacos, Frito Pie And Especially For Chris)

Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna

• 6-8 appox. 8" diameter flour tortillas - I used Toufayan Gluten Free Wraps to make this GF
• 1 C smoky, chunky salsa - I used Jardine's Campfire Salsa
• 2 C roasted butternut squash
• 10 oz package o frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 8 oz queso fresco, crumbled - feta makes a perfectly wonderful substitution!
• 1 1/2 C leftover barbacoa - if you use leftover turkey or another unseasoned meat, mix in a half packet of taco seasoning for some oomph!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread a little salsa in the bottom of a shallow gratin dish - I used maybe a 9"-10" X 6"-7" oval casserole dish...yep, the Corning Ware French White large dish we all have tucked away somewhere. 

From here we're making layers of ingredients - like a lasagna. The tortillas won't fit, so tear them as you go to fit in a single layer. Next slather on 1/3 of the salsa, scatter  1/2 the barbacoa, then 1/3 of the squash, 1/3 of the spinach, 1/3 of the queso fresco, then repeat the same layers. The last layer doesn't use barcacoa, but otherwise is the same.

This is how it looks before going into the oven. Colorful!

Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes then cut into squares and serve!  

Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna

The past and the now. Old and new. A new recipe with familiar roots. With all of the preceding, there was first a history that led to the present and so it is with today's recipe.

Back in the early days of Phillips Restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland...back when Phillips offered some of the best seafood in town...there was a particular crab dish my sister, Jeanie, and I couldn't get enough of - Crab au Gratin.

Crab au Gratin was a  decadent dish of huge crab lumps and nothing else but a blanket of rich,  cheddary sauce cuddling the crab. No fillers, no extraneous ingredients hidden anywhere, just simple cheesy crabmeat. Perfection. And then Phillips changed. Their crab was brought in from all over the world instead of remaining locally sourced. The bigger Phillips got, the less we enjoyed the food. We sought better and went elsewhere.

In the intervening years since our crab and cheese indulgences, lobster mac n' cheese became a thing. Aha, another variety of crustacean and cheese sauce! Would it be as wonderful as long lamented Crab au Gratin? It wasn't...at least the version I had wasn't. Instead of a beautifully browned and crusty top layer of cheese sauce, what came on my plate was more like stovetop mac and cheese with bits of lobster hiding amongst the pasta elbows. Finding lobster was a search and rescue mission.

Besides, as succulent as lobster is, it's no match for sweet Maryland crab. Why not do my own version? Why not crab mac and cheese? How about a base of pasta and cheese with a light blanket of sauteed spinach, crowned by a thick layer of giant Maryland crab lumps and caressed by a rich, cheese sauce? My new crab dish became a sort of fusion of macaroni and cheese meets Greek pastitsio meets lasagna. Once again old inspired new.

Speaking of new, Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna was the covered dish I took to Friendsgiving last night. A casual gathering of friends - both old and new - celebrated an early Thanksgiving with good food (Duxelles Roast Turkey, Bourbon Vanilla Bean Cranberry Sauce, Bourekas, Cheesecake-Stuffed Baked Apples w/Homemade Caramel Sauce...just the highlights) and drinks (fine wines - both homemade and store-bought - and a delicious Peanut Butter Cup cocktail), great stories, lots of laughs and even a few misty-eyed moments. It was an evening of made-over tradition...old to new...that I'm looking forward to again next year! 

Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna

• 12 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked al dente - I use Barilla gluten-free pasta to make this GF - use your own favorite macaroni, of course.
• 1 lb Maryland jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through carefully for any shell or cartiledge - don't break up the lumps, please.
• 4 T butter
• 4 T cornstarch
• 2 C milk
• 1 C half & half
• 1 1/2 t Old Bay seafood seasoning - accept no substitute!
• 1/2 C sharp cheddar, shredded - plus extra for top
• 1/2 C Swiss, shredded - plus extra for top
• 1/2 C Italian Parmesan blend shredded cheese, plus extra for top
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 t olive oil
• 3 C sliced fresh spinach, stems removed
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced finely

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a shallow baking dish (2-3 quart size). Set the baking dish aside.

Melt butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat. Whisk in the cornstarch until the mixture is smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring until smooth, then add the half & half and whisk until smooth and the mixture thickens. Add 1/2 C each of cheddar, Swiss and Italian blend cheeses. Reduce the heat and stir until the cheeses are completely melted. Add cream cheese and Old Bay - stir until the cream cheese is completely melted. Set aside and keep warm. 

In a non-stick skillet, add the olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic and cook until the spinach wilts. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the cooked macaroni and pour 2/3 of the cheese sauce over top. Stir gently to thoroughly combine. Pour the mac n' cheese into the bottom of the buttered shallow casserole dish.

Pat any liquid in the pan of spinach off with a paper towel. Distribute the spinach evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese layer. Gently scatter the gorgeous Maryland crab lumps over the spinach layer, spoon the remaining cheese sauce evenly over the crab and sprinkle the extra shredded cheeses over all.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is beautifully browned. 

NOTE: I use cornstarch to make this gluten-free. If gluten isn't an issue, feel free to use all purpose flour.

Four Cheese 16-Layer Lasagna Melanzane

Lasagna and melanzane.  Not only do they rhyme, it's a natural flavor pairing...kind of like lasagna and eggplant parmigiana had a baby.  For the triple threat rhyme, they could name their adorable little offspring Lasagna Melanzane Parmigiana!  Or not.  (Sometimes I do get carried away...)  Regardless, I'm grateful those very kind Italians made their word for eggplant rhyme so well with lasagna!

Somehow, in my fevered little brain, I originally thought I'd reduce the calories in lasagna by substituting half of the pasta with eggplant slices.  With ALL THAT CHEESE?!  What difference do a few less pieces of pasta make?  Not much difference in calories, but the eggplant goodness ADDS texture and lends meatiness to quite a substantial vegetarian dish.  This ain't diet food!

Do you remember the Fresh Tomato Basil Summer Sauce I made and posted a little while back?  That's what I've used for the sauce. Chunky and thick, Summer Sauce provides an extra fresh basil-y, garlicky zip to the dish that is smoothed out by all the cheeses - silky ricotta, freshly grated parm, slices of mozz and topped with slices of smoky provolone at the end.  

Don't have the time or the inclination to make your own sauce?  Barilla makes a very good Spicy Basil Tomato pasta sauce - I use it all the time in recipes - and if you don't like it spicy, it comes in just plain Basil Tomato.  Here's the link for the my Fresh Tomato Basil Summer Sauce: http://dinnerplan-it.blogspot.com/2012/09/fresh-tomato-basil-summer-sauce.html   

Is this a lot of work?  Yes.  Is it worth it? Yes!  My suggestion...make it on Sunday and whip it out on Meatless Monday for a heat and serve dinner that satisfies!

Four Cheese 16-Layer Lasagna Melanzane

• 8 lasagna noodles, Cooked just halfway, drained (use gluten-free lasagna noodles to make this gluten-free - I used Boles)

• 4 cups tomato sauce, homemade summer sauce or Barilla spicy basil pasta sauce (or your own fave sauce, but be sure it's thick and chunky)
• 12 ounces ricotta cheese, part skim milk
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup cream, or buttermilk (that's what I used...gives a nice tang)
• 2 tablespoons granulated garlic, divided
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, part skim milk, sliced
• 8 ounces provolone cheese slices, the good smoky provolone!
• 1 large eggplant, top & bottom removed, sliced in half lengthwise, sliced across into thin slices (I like to leave the skin on for gorgeous color!)

Mix the ricotta, parm, 1 T. granulated garlic, salt & pepper and cream (or buttermilk) to taste together well.  Set aside.
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large, deep lasagna pan, spoon just enough sauce to cover the bottom.  Make a layer of 3 noodles across using part of another noodle to patch the end if necessary. 
 
Continue the layers like this:  1/3 ricotta, sprinkle with granulated garlic, s&p, 1/2 the slices of mozzarella, 1/2 the eggplant slices, 1/3 ricotta sprinkled with granulated garlic, s&p, the other 1/2 of mozzarella, a layer of sauce, a layer of noodles the same as the 1st, the last 1/3 of the ricotta sprinkled with granulated garlic, s&p, the last 1/2 of the mozzarella, a layer of sauce, the last of the eggplant, the last of the sauce and finally, cover the top with the provolone.  Whew!
 
Cover the lasagna loosely with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours covered.  Remove foil and continue baking another 20-30 minutes until browned and bubbly.


Let the lasagna rest 15-20 minutes before cutting into squares.

Springtime Asparagus lasagna

For those of you who were wondering what the pasta dish in the foreground of yesterday's Sweet Tea Applewood Smoked Chicken Thighs was, here's both the answer AND the recipe...Springtime Asparagus Lasagna! 

Unfortunately, I don't recall when I first made this or where the original recipe came from to credit its creator.  Suffice it to say, it was long and many permutations ago.  Whoever, wherever you are, please know I will be forever grateful for my favorite non-traditional lasagna recipe.  It is the epitome of spring and makes a nice side dish to an Easter ham!

Springtime Asparagus Lasagna

• 2 pounds asparagus, ends snapped off
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 lasagna noodles, no boil variety, or equivalent (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 2 T. butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 lemon, zest only
• salt, to taste
• 1 cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated, and extra for the top
• 1 cup heavy cream

Cut tips from asparagus spears; set aside separately.  Cut the remaining bottoms diagonally into 1/2" pieces; cook until tender-crisp and plunge into ice water. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the lasagna sheets according to package directions and drain.  Set aside.
 
Melt butter in a saucepan, add cornstarch and cook stirring over low heat until it begins to thicken.  Add broth and continue whisking until smooth.  Stir in feta, zest and salt; stir until sauce is smooth.  It's okay if the feta doesn't incorporate completely...nobody will ever know in the finished dish.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9" X 9" pan.  

Drain pasta well.  Make 1 layer of noodles - cut to size, if you need to.  Spread with 1/4 of the sauce.  Top with 1/4th the reserved asparagus bottoms and sprinkle with 1/3 cup parm.  Continue layering, ending with a layer of noodles.

In a bowl, beat cream with just a pinch of salt to soft peaks.  Arrange the asparagus tips on top of the lasagna and gently put the whipped cream over the top.  Evenly scatter the remaining parm over the top.

Bake at 400  for 30-40 minutes or until golden and bubbling.  Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting.